Colorado's Moeller A Natural Fit For Buff Back
August 05, 2017 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — It was a position born of necessity, created in an emergency situation.
Now it is a staple of the Colorado defense, a position that continues to be refined and one that has become more and more of a weapon — a hybrid linebacker/safety whose talents must include the ability to hit like a linebacker, cover receivers like a defensive back and mix it up regularly with 300-pound linemen in the trenches.
Enter the "Buff" back.
The position came about last season after Colorado's third game of the year, when CU lost lost outside linebacker Derek McCartney to a knee injury at Michigan. The following week, the Buffs were headed into their Pac-12 opener at Oregon and the Ducks' dynamic spread offense.
The Buffs needed someone who could assume all the duties listed above. It didn't take head coach Mike MacIntyre and his defensive staff long to find the perfect player.
Enter Ryan Moeller, the player for whom the position was literally made. Moeller finished the Oregon game with three tackles, but more importantly was a disruptor all afternoon. From that day on, the Buff back was a regular part of Colorado's defense.
"You mean the Ryan Moeller position?" Moeller said with a laugh earlier this week. "I like it a lot. I naturally like to be a little more physical. I have a position now where I can be down there, be in the (trenches) as they say."
What Moeller really means is the position offers him a chance to hit someone on a regular basis. Originally a safety — a position he still mans on occasion when necessary — the Buff back spot gets him closer to the action right away, a place he would prefer to be.
"I can hit down there," he said. "I can stick my nose in there and cause some trouble. Coach Mac always talks about doing your part and starring in your role — well, that's a position where my role is big for me. That's where I can do my part. If I don't execute down there, then they're ripping off long ones."
It's not as if Moeller can't play safety. He started two games there as a redshirt freshman (when he was still a walk-on), then started six in 2015 as a sophomore before a motorbike accident sidelined him for the rest of the season.
But when the opportunity arose last year for him to make the move from the back end of the defense to a little closer to the trenches, he jumped at the chance.
"I feel comfortable down there," he said. "The whole position — going against those 300-pound linemen and those pulling guards is exhilarating for me. I like it a lot. I like being able to stick my head in there. I have more tools to use against them then people really think. I can do so many different things — I can do inside-outside, I can take them head on, or put my hands on them and stretch the play out."
It is not a position that always yields "easy" tackles. Sometimes, he has to be satisfied with disrupting the flow and forcing a play into the waiting arms of a teammate. Still, he finished last season with 44 tackles in 448 snaps, including four tackles for loss as well as two forced fumbles and a pair of pass breakups.
"Ryan's an excellent athlete who's very physical and he loves playing the game," said MacIntyre, who awarded Moeller with a scholarship prior to the 2015 season. "He's very, very bright. He's done a great job at safety and at our hybrid outside 'backer spot. He's kind of found a home there and made a lot of plays. I'm very pleased with him and also his leadership."
In the long run, Moeller really doesn't care where he plays — as long as he's somewhere on the field.
"I just like to play football," he said. "It really doesn't matter where. I think I like (Buff back) because it plays to some of my strengths. I'm a competitor and I like to challenge myself and put myself in situations that aren't going to be easy. It's like a puzzle — how do I work my way through this one? How can I do my job, execute and then some? First and foremost, I have to do my job. If I don't do my job, then someone else has to cover for me and everything kind of crumbles."
Moeller likes the game so much that he volunteers for special teams — and he was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection last year as a special teams player.
"He helps us tremendously on special teams," MacIntyre said. "We only play him on two. We'd like to play him on all four but that would be too much for him. I'd like to put him back returning kickoffs (Moeller was an all-state running back at Rifle High School), but that's too many hits on him. He always asks me all the time, but he's not going back. As much physicalness as he has to take in a game, that would be too much."
Now a senior, Moeller's goal is to make sure last season's 10-4, Pac-12 South title season wasn't a one-year wonder. He and his teammates have heard the chatter that the Buffs defense will take a step back; they obviously believe otherwise.
"The feeling here at camp is a lot better than people on the outside and maybe some people on the inside expected," Moeller said. "It's not that we were thinking we weren't going to be good — it was more of a case of curiousity was in the air. Who's going to step up in what place? Who's going to be the next guy that's going to be there and be trusted by the rest of us that remain from the season before?
"So far, we've seen a lot of guys do a lot of great things. We're excited to see what else can happen and who else can step and what can be done. We still have quite a bit of camp left, but the young guys have stepped up."
And where will that lead the Buffs defense this season?
"I think the sky's the limit," Moeller said. "But Buff Nation will just have to wait and see."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
